[NFBCS] Windows 7 vs Windows 10

Fri Feb 21 03:03:04 UTC 2020

I usually don't weigh in on these laptop discussions but always get slightly
concerned when the person selling a laptop tells a buyer it should be pretty
speedy.  
So many things matter when it comes to performance of a laptop.  Things like
are you a JAWS / NVDA only user or a Fusion user.  Do you email and social
media.  Or are you a power user running analytics and downloading tons of
data.

My personal opinion as a Fusion user is to buy what you can afford.  Minimum
specs that I'd say would be an Intel i5 9th Generation processor, 8GB RAM @
2333Mhz and a Solid State Drive (SSD).  I've heard conflicting information
from Freedom Scientific on Graphics Cards but my own experience says the
Nvidia cards are better than Intel.

I currently have 2 Windows 10 laptops.  Both are from Dell and both work
pretty great.
First is a Dell XPS 15 I bought in 2016.  It's an i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD
with Nvidia graphics.  It runs as good today as it did when I bought it.
Second is my work laptop which is a Dell Latitude from 2019 with an i7, 32GB
RAM @ 2666Mhz, a 256GB SSD and Intel Graphics instead of Nvidia.

The older Dell XPS in many operations is just as fast as the Dell Latitude.
In part this is the Nvidia graphics but also the i7 chip while an older
generation still has the same clock speed and cache.  And the work computer
has more anti-virus protection.

All that said.  The Dell XPS line is a performance minded lightweight
laptop.  It's going to run $1,400 to $1,900 but will surely please.  And
Keyboard layout being very important I'll say Dell Latitude line does offer
a Numeric Keypad on the 15.6" series.  And on both the XPS and Latitude the
insert key is easy to find and operate with function and other keys for
JAWS.  Plus the function keys are truly function keys with a FN key that
does allow you to easily switch to changing brightness or volume; and volume
can be done with just 1 hand.

Besides Dell, the Microsoft Surface line is pretty good and we've started
buying those over Dell in the office.  I've not used one yet but they feel
pretty sweet.  When I take a look at an upgrade later this year the
Microsoft Surface will be on the list.  We've also had in a few Lenovo's but
the quality has been lacking.  Beyond Windows 10 we've got an entire
division of the company on Macintosh majority on MacBook Pro, but a few 2018
or newer MacBook Air's of which I have one.  The Mac's battery life is
ridiculously good, but the learning curve of VoiceOver on Mac is high if you
are a JAWS user.  Unfortunately Mac VoiceOver is nothing like iOS.

My recommendation is buying direct from Dell, Microsoft or even Apple you
have a 30 or 14 day return policy after kicking the tires.  Certainly buy
what you can afford, but also test drive them and find which fits your needs
and return if it doesn't.  I've returned both to Dell & Apple without any
questions.

Hope that is informative.

Best,
Charles

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Christopher Chaltain via
NFBCS
Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2020 5:29 AM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Christopher Chaltain <chaltain at gmail.com>; Curtis Chong
<chong.curtis at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NFBCS] Windows 7 vs Windows 10

You can also get a clean install of Windows, without your OEM's software, by
using the following tool: 
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10startfresh

On 2/19/20 9:52 AM, Curtis Chong via NFBCS wrote:
> Greetings:
>
>   
>
> Also, with respect to purchasing new computers, a number of manufacturers
> insist on installing brand-specific software along with the Windows 10
> operating system, and it is oftentimes the case that none of these
> brand-specific programs work with our screen access technology.
> Consequently, it is a good idea to request that the seller remove what I
> call "bloatware". Even if this costs a few more dollars, it is well worth
> the cost to get rid of programs that we cannot use. Another issue with new
> computers is the state of the function keys. Some brands, by default, set
> these keys to be media controls instead of the function keys that we use
all
> the time. Even worse, we, nonvisual users, can't change the state of these
> keys because these changes can only be made in the BIOS. Again, another
> piece of work that is well worth paying for.
>
>   
>
> Cordially,
>
>   
>
> Curtis Chong
>
>   
>
>   
>
>   
>
>   
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Tracy Carcione via
NFBCS
>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2020 8:24 AM
>
> To: 'NFB in Computer Science Mailing List' <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
>
> Cc: Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net>
>
> Subject: [NFBCS] Windows 7 vs Windows 10
>
>   
>
> Curtis recommends buying a new Windows 10 laptop, and says it will be
faster
>
> than an old Windows 7 machine.
>
>   
>
> This has not been my experience at all.  I bought a Dell laptop a few
months
>
> ago, running Win10, and it is ridiculously slow, much slower than my old
>
> Windows7 desktop.  I even took it to the Microsoft store to see if it was
>
> set up wrong, but it wasn't.  The store that sold me the laptop said it
has
>
> good memory and would be reasonably quick, but it's totally not.  I don't
>
> know if it's because of Windows 10, or some other problem, but it's a
bitter
>
> disappointment to me.  Now my husband needs a new computer, too, but I'm
>
> afraid he'll be as irritated and disappointed as I am.
>
>   
>
> Just saying.
>
>   
>
> Tracy
>
>   
>
>   
>
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-- 
Christopher (CJ)
Chaltain at Gmail

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